Page 48 of Lies That Bleed
She rolled her eyes in response. “They can read minds?”
My eyes widened. “T, no eye rolling. I’m serious. You have to show that you can be respectful and take orders without any questions.”
Her brow furrowed. She was the queen of questions. “What if?—?”
“T, I’m warning you. They will shave your head and parade you around in your underwear at 2 a.m. in the freezing cold if you cause problems. Do as I say,” I snapped.
She swallowed hard, looking scared for the first time. “Okay, jeez.”
She reached up to touch her long blonde hair as if horrified by the thought of it being shaved off. Maybe I was being a touch overdramatic, but I’d heard of it happening.
A shadow fell overhead and I looked up, instinctively knowing who it would be.
When I saw the black dragon, I sighed.
Onyx landed right next to Liana and Kohen dismounted, carrying a backpack filled with his things.
My gaze flicked to my father. I could practically see the hatred fuming off of him as he stared at Kohen. My father leaned into one of the lieutenants, the oldest one, with silver hair and a take-no-prisoners look on his face. My father said a few things into the lieutenant’s ear and then walked away. I followed after him, his guards allowing me through as he reached his car.
“Thanks for coming to see me off!” I told him.
He spun, like he’d forgotten I was here. “Oh yes. Be good, Aisling. Don’t embarrass me.”
Ahh, there was the warm and cuddly man I knew.
“Yes, sir,” I saluted him, and he mirrored the move back to me and then he drove off. One of his guards handed me my duffle bag and I ran to meet up with the others, who were now going through the open gates with their creatures. Ours were too big to fit side by side, so Kohen and I waited until the last cadet had entered the gate.
“You first, princess,” Kohen said, but the words held no harsh tone. They even sounded respectful. If that were possible. Had he given me a pet name?
I peered at Liana, who nodded and stepped up beside me. Swallowing hard, I walked through the gates, watching as every eye at boot camp turned to look my way, even the drill instructors.
I found a place at the end of the line, placed my bag at my feet, and stood tall next to Anika of all people. Liana wandered to the field behind us and stood with the other creatures. The drill instructors knew better than to try to train the creatures. That was something we would each do ourselves. They might guide us but they wouldn’t be screaming in the faces of a wolf or lion. They weren’t stupid. We had to submit to the instructor so that our creatures would submit to them through our bond.
The hawk lieutenant stepped up to the front line with her hands behind her back. “If you think you are special because you survived The Wilds and bonded, THINK AGAIN!” She roared the last two words in Tetra’s face and my bestie squeaked.
“I am Lieutenant Ashendell, your lead lieutenant. It is my job to make sure you can survive in a war and I take my job VERY SERIOUSLY!” She screamed into Anika’s face but the Imbrian didn’t move.
She then walked right up to me and stared me up and down. “If ANY OF YOU think you are special because of how much money you have, or who you parents are, YOU ARE WRONG and I WILL PROVE YOU WRONG,” she shouted in my face, so close that I felt spittle fly onto my cheeks.
I didn’t move a muscle, just stared ahead as if nothing had happened.
Lieutenant Ashendell walked up to Kohen. “And if you have a weakness, and the creatures chose wrong.”She stared Kohen up and down. “I will pull that weakness out of you and display it for all to see.”
She paused, just glaring at him. I peered at him without moving my head since he was right next to me. He appeared to be glaring her down, not looking at the space in front of him like he should be.
Oh stars. He was an idiot.
“DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?” she shouted suddenly, making half the cadets jump, and probably hoping to jostle Kohen, but he didn’t move.
“Yes, ma’am!” Kohen replied with the rest of us.
I had a feeling this was going to be an interesting month.
Over the next twenty minutes, we stood there as they tore open our bags, displaying our stuff for all to see. They took heavily padded bras, makeup, curling irons, and threw them all in the trash. One of the male cadets had brought cookies and letters from his mother pre-written for each week he was here. She read a few out loud, got everyone laughing, and tossed the rest.
“WEAK!” one of the lieutenants said.
They took my banana bread but that was it. Elaine was no fool. She didn’t pack anything that would have been confiscated. When Lieutenant Ashendell’s gaze fell to my necklace, my stomach dropped.
